High School Student Sentenced for Charges Relating to a String of Raleigh Robberies

RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court
today Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt sentenced
ANTONIO A. ABROM, 18, to 171 months imprisonment followed by five
years supervised release. According to the Criminal Indictment returned
on June 20, 2011, from September 2, 2009, to November 12, 2009, a string of robberies occurred
in the Raleigh area in which the same methods were repeatedly used. During the course of the
robberies, two individuals would enter a store brandishing firearms. One robber would immediately
approach the clerk working the register, hold them at gunpoint, and take all the money from the
register. The second robber would stand in front of the counter area, provide crowd control, and
guard the door. As soon as the register was clear, both men would flee the scene on foot. These
robberies included the Texaco Food Mart on Lake Wheeler Road, on September 2, 2009; the
Kangaroo Store on Avent Ferry Road, on September 5, 2009; Champion’s Pizza and Wings
on Avent Ferry Road, on September 9, 2009; and the CVS Pharmacy on
Capital Boulevard, also on September 9, 2009.

The last robbery, which took place on November 12, 2009, at the Priscilla McCall’s Adult
Lingerie Store on Western Boulevard, occurred in the evening, when three males, one later identified
as ABROM, entered the store. Two clerks were working in the store; one in the back changing area
and the other was towards the front of the store. As the clerk in front looked up, ABROM placed
a gun in her face, demanding she go to the register. He then demanded money from the cash register.
The second clerk came out of the changing room area at this time, and ABROM ordered one of his
accomplices to “get her”. ABROM then walked behind the counter and took the money from the
register. All three robbers then fled the scene on foot.

ABROM, of Garner, North Carolina, had previously pled guilty
to conspiring to rob a business in interstate commerce, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951, and using
and carrying a firearm during a federal crime of violence, in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c).

This case was part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods(PSN)
initiative which encourages federal, state, and local agencies to
cooperate in a unified “team effort” against gun crime, targeting
repeat offenders who continually plague their communities.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Raleigh Police
Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jane J. Jackson is
prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.

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